South Korean Casino and Card Room Gaming

The Tourism Promotion Law of 1994 is the primary controlling legislation for casinos and game machines in licensed casinos.

Casino licenses are issued by the Korean Tourism Organization. The tourism market dictates the number of available casino licenses since gambling is illegal for South Koreans except at designated casinos. It is estimated that more than 70% of the gamblers who visit South Korean properties are Japanese. South Korea now has several casinos, but only one, the Kangwon Land, which allows its citizens to gamble.

In March 2005, laws were passed prohibiting Koreans from using credit cards in overseas casinos and online to stem the sharp rise in overseas gambling and curb capital from moving out of the country. The move came after an increasing number of Koreans began using credit cards for gambling at casinos in Asian countries such as the Philippines.

In 2012, South Korea announced plans for a massive casino resort project in Incheon city, just west of the capital, Seoul. The project worth 317 trillion won called for the construction of luxury hotels, casinos and shopping malls as well as a Formula One racing track and other leisure facilities on the islands of Incheon. The figure for the project – touted as the largest single tourism project in the world – was just shy of South Korea's 2013 budget of 342 trillion won. The project was slated for a 2030 completion.

But the ambitious project appears doomed as a protracted economic downturn has made funding nonexistent for 8City, the company created to develop the project.